Thursday, October 31, 2013

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Hello, and yes it's another Halloween creation. Today I'm featured over on the Ranger blog with this quick & creepy Halloween postcard. Be sure to hop over there and check it out. I've provided a step-by-step tutorial especially for you.

Ever since I made this house, I've wanted to make a haunted house version. So this weekend, I spent a few hours and made this...

Like my Christmas house, this one is adorned with all sorts of Ranger/Tim Holtz/Sizzix products. I made this especially for my friend and neighbor Patty who is as big a fan of Halloween as I am. She throws a BIG party every year and I wanted to make her something special as my personal thank you.

You can find these paper maché houses in Hobby Lobby or your favorite craft store. For the Christmas house, I used the largest size and the haunted house is the middle sized one.

What got me started on this was a really cool technique I found on the Ranger blog by Candy Colwell. She showed how to make tombstones with tissue paper as texture. You'll have to go check it out. I basically did the same technique with Tim's tissue wrap and Distress Paints.

By layering the tissue over a grungeboard skull shape, you get this eerie image underneath.

By wrapping the house in tissue wrap and scrunching it to create wrinkles, it gives this cool effect. For my windows, I colored plastic squares from Sizzix packaging with alcohol ink before gluing them to the insides of the box.

Battery powered tea lights flicker inside. I had to create a little shelf for the top windows to sit the tea lights.

Inside the back wall of the house, I added this stamped skull image. If you look closely, you can see it through the windows when it's lit up.

936 is Patty's house number. I used Tim's Tag Labels. They fit perfectly over the door between the windows.

Well, I'm off to deliver this to Patty now. I hope she likes it! Let me know what you think. And thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Hello again. All week long, Graphic 45's fabulous design team has been sharing projects using the Scor-Pal and Scor-Tape (it's a blog hop!) along with sneak peeks of the wonderful new Sweet Sentiments collection coming soon. So be sure to hop over there each day and check it out.

Today I'm featured alongside Nichola and Susan with my coupon holder made with Typography papers at this link. I've included a step-by-step tutorial how to make it too.

I've been needing a new coupon holder for a long time and don't care for the cheap versions I see in stores. Mine is sturdy with a hard cover and a unique closure. I keep it in my car so I never forget a coupon or gift card or frequent shopper card again. I hate stuffing my wallet full of these things, so this was the perfect solution. I get lots of compliments in the grocery store and everywhere I use it.

This was so fast and easy to make, after I was done I wanted to make a bunch of them. You could omit the second set of pockets and make a sweet mini album with pull tags, or love notes, or whatever inside. When I make more, I'll certainly be sure to share them with you here.

Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you went to the tutorial and how you like the project, AND if you think you'll try one of these yourself.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Time again for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013. Tim's October tag is full of colorful whimsy with Distress Paints and the new Distress Glitters. I'm not usually a glitter fan, but I am loving the uniqueness of Distress Glitter. Leave it to Ranger to develop a better, distressable glitter. They get it right every time.

Be sure to check out Tim's tag and the step-by-step techniques he shares on his blog here.

My "tags" this year are actually 6 x 8 journal pages which I will bind at the end of the year into one fabulous technique journal.

Here's my take on Tim's October tag and techniques...

Gotta love that background with its creepy goodness. I'll share how I created the look...

I started off like Tim using Distress Paints for my background. I opted for a combination of Wild Honey, Dusty Concord, Crushed Olive and Stormy Sky. But when I covered the page, I wasn't getting the depth and darkness that I hoped for. (In retrospect, I probably should have picked Chipped Sapphire as one of my colors.) So instead of trashing the whole thing, I grabbed some Dylusions spray (After Midnight) and gave it a few shots of that, spritzed the page with water and let it run. Now I was happy.

Next: stamping. I kept the spider web stamp unmounted (not on a block) so I could touch and roll the stamp randomly around the page. I used Black archival ink for this.

Next are the words. Same stamping technique.

For Happy Halloween, I used Antique Linen Distress Paint brushed right onto the stamp, then stamped it down.

I love how it created this cool ghosted effect.

Next up, pieces were cut from Grungeboard and covered with Distress Glitter in Black Soot, Rusty Hinge, and Stormy Sky. After the glitter had dried and set, I ink distressed the pieces with Black Soot Distress ink.

The glittered pieces are adhered to the page.

I like to keep my pages simple with little added embellishment.

I hope you've enjoyed this month's page. Are you participating in the 12 Tags of 2013? It's a great way to learn some new techniques and create fun and interesting art.

Friday, October 18, 2013

In case you missed it, I posted my Steampunk Spells Halloween Tea-light Treat Holders a few days ago. (The post right before this one.) If you want to learn how to make these easy, fun guys simply go to the Graphic 45 blog at this link and I have a tutorial there for you.

Today I had some spare time (a rarity) so I thought I'd share a few more ideas with the rest of the sheet of "Frightful Folly" paper.

With some added card stock, ribbon and a few buttons I create two 5 x 7 cards and two treat bags.

I started with "Frightful Folly."

The faces and the names were cut away and used on the tea light projects. I cut the rest of the elements apart like this and inked their edges with black ink.

For the little treat bags, I used Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations "In the Bag" die. One green and one orange. Just folded the score lines and inked the edges.

Rather than adhering the cut-aparts directly down, I used black foam tape to pop them up a little. This little added dimension just looks better.

I dug through my scraps of punched shapes and die-cuts (I keep small bins of these) and found some leaves and bats then added some black organdy ribbon for the handles.

These took minutes to make.

I used the larger cut-aparts for 5 x 7 cards. A little added stamping, a few buttons, a die-cut fence and my card is done.

Most of the stamping on this one is with the Steampunk Spells Cling Stamp 2 set. Happy Halloween is a Tim Holtz stamp.

Did you know that you can buy Graphic 45 paper by the sheet? Shop at Scrapbook.com and you'll find everything you need there.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Hello and happy Wednesday. Today I'm featured over on the Graphic 45 blog with my simple and fun Halloween tea-lite treat holders. Be sure to hop over there to check them out. I share a tutorial on how to make them. And also while you're there, take a look at the beautiful Couture collection coming out in mid-November. It's absolutely amazing! How can Graphic 45 possibly outdo themselves with each release? It's mind-boggling. And that's what makes me a happy girl as a design team member.

Here are my Halloween tea-lite/treat holders...

And here's a little sneak peek of Couture. One of my favorite pages in the collection...

Let me know what you think of my Halloween project, then GO to the Graphic 45 blog and check out all of Couture. Leave them a comment this week and you could WIN some of it!!!

Monday, October 14, 2013

I quickly wanted to share my notebook that I started with Creative Chemistry 101 and now have altered slightly for 102 and CC courses in the future.

Here's a look at my 101 notebook when I first put it together back in 2012. See linkfor more photos and details.

Since adding 102 to the coursework, I moved this front insert photo to the inside of my notebook. This page was created in PhotoShop Elements.

I created a similar page for the 102 section. Each one is inside a page protector which makes a great divider for the sections.

Then I created a new cover so that any future Creative Chemistry courses can be added.

Same with the spine. Same one from last time, only I changed the 101 to Online Classes.

As for the tags themselves, I am going to create mini books using Tim's Worn Covers/Composition Book like he showed in the 102 follow-up video. What a fantastic idea! I'll be sure to share those books when I finish them.

Meanwhile, I can't thank you all enough for the lovely comments all last week. I enjoyed the creative process so much and hope you did too. As my special thank you, I did a randomized drawing of a name from those who commented all last week and the winner of a special Tim Holtz inspired give-away is...

Friday, October 11, 2013

I can't believe it's over already. Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 102 has come to an end. Today was our final day of class and the focus was on embossing techniques using various products that produced some pretty cool effects.

Here are my six technique tags for today...

If you haven't registered for Creative Chemistry yet, you can do so at any time. Just because the class is over for me doesn't mean you can't begin at your own time and leisure. You certainly can. Just go to the link above and start. The videos are there for you for eternity! Check out 6 of the 30 total techniques you'll learn below.

Rusting with Distress Powder.

Sticky Powder with Glitter.

Sticky Powder with Leafing.

Shabby Chic.

Tarnished Silver. (In my case: silver, gold and copper. I just had to try them all out.)

This was my favorite of the day. (Thanks Shelly Hickox)

Chalkboard. (mine needs some work)

It's been a BLAST all week learning 30 techniques using my favorite products. I hope you'll join in the fun, and remember that in order to take 102 you've got to first take the 101 course.

Thanks for stopping by. And a BIG special thanks to those who have left me such nice comments all week. Hope your weekend is fantastic. Come back and see me on Monday when I'll share my Creative Chemistry binder with you and do a celebratory give-away!

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About Me

Former graphic designer on a creative journey in life designing, teaching and sharing the Graphic 45 love. Mother to an amazing daughter in art college, wife of 25 years to Paul, and owner of our sweet shy Sheltie named Suki. We live in Melbourne, Florida in the beautiful Suntree community.